Westfield may have needed a victory yesterday to earn a spot in the NJSIAA North Jersey, Section 2, Group 5 playoffs.

But if you asked coach Jim DeSarno, he would say his team has been in playoff mode for three weeks.

"We've kind of felt like we've been in playoffs for the last three weeks," DeSarno said. "When we were 2-3, the guys knew that one more loss and we were out of it. We've had that attitude for the last three weeks and we knew that we needed to win each game."

Three victories later, Westfield is formally playoff bound.

Thanks to five Eugene Rawles touchdowns and a stellar defensive performance, Westfield officially locked up a postseason spot with a 41-28 victory over rival Scotch Plains at Gary Kehler Stadium in Westfield.

"We were talking about how we didn't want to play in a consolation game," senior defensive end Thomas Anderson said. "We wanted to play in a meaningful game. We believed that we deserved to be in the playoffs and we're going to work our hardest to try to win a state championship."

Rawles said: "We got together and we said we want to be in the playoffs. No more losing. Just step it up."

Rawles was the first to step up, taking a Chris Hogge screen pass 75 yards for a TD on the sixth play of the game. The senior running followed with first half rushing TDs of 2, 65 and 3 yards. His 1-yard scoring run made it 34-7 with 2:42 left in the third quarter.

Rawles rushed for 113 yards and four TDs on 17 carries and added 114 yards on two receptions. Thirteen of his 18 TDs have come during the three-game winning streak for Westfield (5-3).

"I really feel like Rawles is starting to figure out his role as a leader on offense," senior defensive tackle Joe Scaglione said.

Rawles and Hogge (8-for-20, 200 yards) set the tone on offense behind the line of Nick Costa, Jack Kessler, Thomas Morley, Brian Moum and Chip Mulrooney. On the other side, the defensive line of Scaglione, Anderson, Chris Sweeney and David Kane was equally dominant.

The unit held Scotch Plains (2-7) to 119 yards over nine possessions in three quarters before giving way to the second string.

Scotch Plains' Kobe White rushed for two fourth quarter scores, finishing with 131 yards and three TDs on 22 carries. Marquel Taylor (four carries for 89 yards) rushed for a 72-yard score in the fourth.

Jack Curry had 11 carries for 61 yards and a TD and Dylan Elliott added five catches for 71 yards for a Westfield team, which is projected to play at Ridge in the first round after missing the playoffs a season ago.

"We weren't going to let it happen again this year," Anderson said of last year's 2-8 campaign. "We worked the hardest we've ever worked in the summer and we've been working the entire year."